India Politics

Rajya Sabha deputy speaker election will test opposition unity once again

Rajya Sabha deputy speaker election will test opposition unity once again

After the successful ending of Bypolls, now its time for Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman election. As the election for Rajya Sabha Deputy Speaker is coming nearer, the activists of the ruling BJP and the opposition are increasing. This is the reason that the leading Opposition Congress and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party have been wooing regional parties. Although the commitment of most regional parties is clear, but there are some regional parties whose commitment could be a game changer. Congress and BJP have targeted, four regional parties; which are Biju Janata Dal, TRS, YSRCP and Shiv Sena. With the support of these regional parties, Congress and BJP both can present their challenge for this post.

The opposition has 117 members, while the ruling NDA has 106 members(including Shiv Sena) in Rajya Sabha. Apart from this, 14 members of the AIADMK are also a vital part of the Rajya Sabha and it is assuming that their vote will go for NDA Alliance only. But it is doubtful about Shiv Sena, as they recently have broken their alliance with NDA so they could vote for Congress. So, NDA has total 106 and with grand this total, they will away from the magical figure of 123. Parties like BJD, TRS, YSRCP haven’t yet decided what their position will be in the upcoming Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman election.

At present, BJD has 9, TRS has 6, Shivsena has 4, and YSRCP has 2 members in RajyaSabha. And these 21 members of four parties could be a game changer for choosing the next Vice Chairman of Rajya Sabha. BJP and Congress senior leaders are in a continuous touch with these four parties members. The reason for this is that earlier these four parties had supported the BJP in the presidential election last year, while in the Vice-Presidential election BJD(Biju Janata Dal) had given its support to the Congress candidate.

In the 245-member house, A candidate needs 123 votes to win the election. In such a way, these four regional parties will decide the future of Rajya Sabha Deputy Speaker. This election will also decide the future of opposition unity(MahaGathbandhan), was seen during Karnataka CM Kumaraswamy’s swearing ceremony before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Appointment of the new deputy chairman is significant because it is the last year of the current government before the general elections 2019.

About the author

Abhishek Lohia

Abhishek Lohia was a Sports and Political Writer working for Newsfolo and is no longer associated with the organization.

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